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Month: September 2016

It’s really hard to believe that Destiny originally came out 2 years ago on current and last generation consoles. For some, Destiny was a colossal disappointment and they quickly separated from it, never to touch it again. For others however Destiny became a game we’d regularly play, spending hour after hour grinding, trying to get better gear in order to fully max out the level of our Guardians. As time went by, expansions were released, and the game got continuously better. With the release of The Taken King, more players got started with their journey to become legend. I’ve been playing Destiny on and off since day 1, and I was incredibly pumped for Rise of Iron towards release, so I decided to come back and see what’s new. So is Rise of Iron worth it? Is the Destiny Collection worth it? Hell yes it is!

Rise of Iron’s story follows Saladin and the Iron Lords.

Become an Iron Lord

Rise of Iron follows your guardian through a plot revolving around Lord Saladin and the other Iron Lords. A virus named SIVA has been recklessly used by the fallen, modifying and splicing their own bodies to become “Perfected”. SIVA was created during the golden age so it could be used to create anything a civilisation could need, providing you can harness it. What Saladin thought he had sealed away forever comes back from the darkness, his worst nightmare becomes a reality.It’s a fairly standard storyline by Destiny standards, but it definitely does the job better than any other in my opinion. The cutscenes are awesome, and there were legitimate moments that made me feel sad. My one gripe with the story of Rise of Iron is that it’s incredibly short and can easily be finished in an hour, but the story isn’t the only draw. The new strikes are fantastic, innovative, fast paced, and just fun in general. I never have a dull moment doing The Wretched Eye strike, and some of the revamped strikes like Summoning Pits and Sepiks Perfected are entertaining as well. The new gear is also worth the grind, exotics like the Trespasser, and Outbreak Prime feel unique and individual. The new armour sets also look incredibly awesome, with the raid gear sets being my favourites. Speaking of which Rise of Iron’s raid is utterly fantastic. Definitely my second favourite raid, and comes real close to topping Vault of Glass in terms of how much fun I have doing it. The mechanics are interesting, and well developed with new encounters, I’ll have absolutely no problem doing it every reset. The new hub area is pretty awesome as well, and the Plaguelands as a patrol area is really fun to explore. Archon’s Forge is a surefire way to get some good gear if you do it enough, and it feels like a better version of Court of Oryx. One thing Rise of Iron does extremely well is a sense of progression, no matter what I was doing, I always felt like I was progressing and further developing my guardian. Destiny is still one of the prettiest games on the PS4 right now, and with the new HDR update, new and old areas look incredibly pretty. I encountered minimal bugs and connection issues, and the game always managed to stay at 30 FPS, apart from one section in the raid which didn’t bother me that much if i’m being honest.

The entrance to the raid is quite glorious. The entrance being a giant Servitor…..

Verdict: 9.5/10

Rise of Iron manages to successfully expand and improve Destiny’s content exponentially, with a ton of content to get through, awesome strikes, an amazing raid, solid new exotics, interesting new areas, and an enjoyable, albeit short storyline. Destiny: Rise of Iron is well worth the money, and if you consider giving it a go, I urge you to, it’s utterly fantastic and I finally feel like Bungie have done what they set out to do. If you want to get into Destiny, I have to recommend Destiny: The Collection, it’s definitely the cheapest way to get the full experience, with the base game and every expansion in the box. Don’t just shrug Destiny off, it really is awesome now!

Postives

-Enjoyable story

-Solid raid

-Awesome gear

-Interesting new areas

-Fun strikes

Negatives

-Story is a bit too short

Thanks for reading guys, sorry I took so long to get something up. I got put behind due to an issue with ReCore, but a review for that will be up soon. Next will be Batman: The Telltale Series – Episode 2: Children of Arkham, followed by the Bioshock Collection and finally ReCore. Thanks for being patient guys.

To say Metroid Prime: Federation Force has been under fire since its announcement is definitely not a lie. The game has been hated on and generally dismissed by Metroid fans and I honestly don’t blame them. As a massive fan of the franchise, I was initially disappointed that all we were getting for our favourite bounty hunters 30th anniversary would be a spin off. I never completely dismissed Federation Force, in fact I always knew I would pick it up just to see what it’s like. I was pleasantly surprised with just how much I enjoyed Federation Force, and while it may not be the Metroid game fans are looking for, I can still recommend it to those who might be interested.

The decoy can be used to distract enemies

Post Prime 3

Federation Force’s story takes place after Prime 3 and the destruction of the planet Phaaze. The Federation Force is testing a brand new system to where they put Federation troops into mechs in order to deal with various threats. The space pirates make a sudden return and it’s the Federation’s job to find the source of them and deal with it. From there on it’s a fairly standard storyline with some expositional dialogue before and after each mission, however the final boss and ending caught me off guard. It’s fairly enjoyable, but nothing spectacular.

Different enemies can be found on different planets

Not Metroidvania

Federation Force’s biggest different from a standard Metroid game is definitely its gameplay. Federation Force is a mission based cooperative first person shooter. Playing different missions progresses you through the story and you can play with up to 3 other players either online or locally. If you want to play Federation Force solo, you can but bosses can start to drag, it’s not as fun, and sometime the game can get a little overwhelming. To compensate for this you can equip the lone wolf mod, doubling damage and defences to make the game more bearable. Speaking of these mods, they’re hidden within each level, adding good reason for exploration. At the end of the mission, mods are shared among players, and players can pick what mods they want based on score. Federation Force is set on 3 different planets, Bion, Excelcion, and Talvania each varying in environments and hazards. Bion is the deserted hot planet, filled with reds and oranges. Excelcion is the ice planet, with tons of snow, water and glaciers. Last but not least is Talvania, serving as the Space Pirates home world, which also lines up thematically with a factory. Before each mission items can be chosen from a pool for players to use, from missiles to healing pods. It’s important to have a few people to take always heals and elemental shots. Shooting is fairly fluid, and controlling the Federation troops was tight and responsive. Gyro controls are incredibly helpful when they’re needed and I often didn’t have a problem with using them. Certain levels have sections where you need to get out the mech and proceed as a little trooper through a section of a level, keeping the game varied. One thing I can absolutely praise Federation Force for is its mission variety across the entire game. Each mission is different, and none of them recycle any areas or objectives from past missions. What’s really cool is that simple mechanics early on in specific missions are further explored and developed in later missions. I was always doing something different in Federation Force and that kept me on my toes. The last component of Federation Force is Blast Ball, a 3 v 3 soccer match. It’s entertaining at first but quickly gets boring and I doubt it’ll keep you hooked for too long.

Space Pirates have a new look as well

Looks like a Metroid Game to Me

Federation does good job at staying stable on the hardware of the New 3DSXL. I never experienced any frame drops, keeping the experience at a buttery smooth 60FPS the entire time. The art style of Federation Force heavily reminds me of Prime 1, and I was surprised to see just how much some of the environments in Federation Force reminded me of Metroid as a whole. The game doesn’t look amazing sure, but it definitely doesn’t look bad. Textures and character models are fairly detailed and some backdrops are absolutely gorgeous to look at.

There’s a free demo for Blastball on the Eshop if you’re interested.

Verdict: 8/10

Metroid Prime: Federation Force really did surprise me with just how much I enjoyed playing it. It’s sure as hell not what I wanted for Metroid’s 30th anniversary, but as a spin off it does its job damn well. Solid mission variety, a decent story, and strong performance make Federation Force worth your time, Metroid fan or not.

Positives

-Loads of mission variety

-Multiplayer is fun and connections are stable

-Planets are unique

-Exploration is rewarded

Negatives

-Playing solo can be tough sometimes

-Blast Ball eventually gets boring

Thanks for reading guys. One last thing for you Metroid fans out there, if you haven’t heard already (i’m sure you have) a fan made remake of Metroid 2 has surfaced on the internet and it’s fantastic. If you’re craving a new Metroid experience look into it, it’s a truly fantastic Metroid game and deserves all the recognition it can get! Up next is ReCore, Harry.

Attack on Titan has been massive ever since its popularity explosion in 2013 when the anime adaptation was released. It was everywhere, and still is, and of course it was only safe to assume that videogame adaptations would be released in due time. We’ve had a few in the past released in Japan, such as the 3ds adaption, but we’ve had none as big or as ambitious as Wings of Freedom. Omega Force treat the property with utmost respect, and I had an enjoyable time for the most part, even if the last quarter of the game drags on.

Most important scenes of the anime have been recreated in cutscenes

A Sufficient Adaptation

Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom’s story follows very closely to the original anime storyline. It’s passable, but definitely not the best way to experience the story for the first time. It just doesn’t hold the same feeling of dread that the anime consistently has and if you haven’t experienced it already, try to do so before playing Wings of Freedom. It’s definitely passable but not amazing. The epilogue of the game follows some of the story from the manga but it’s nothing ground breaking or worth buying the game for. For those who are unfamiliar, Attack on Titan is set in a world where ever hungry titans roam the land and solely feed on humans. As a result, the survivors built three walls in order to protect themselves from titans, and one day a colossal titan appears and destroys the outer wall. This sets the story into motion, and it’s definitely passable, just not the way first timers should experience it.

Playing as Eren in titan form is easily one of my favorite parts of the game

Titanic Ideas

So how does a developer take what makes Attack on Titan so special, and turn it into a fully functioning and entertaining game? I wouldn’t know myself but it seems like Omega Force does, with some ideas for gameplay that are appropriate and enjoyable for the type of game Wings of Freedom strives to be. Gameplay is what you imagine it would be for an Attack on Titan game, you can zip around using Omni-Directional Mobility gear which feels great. Zipping through forests and buildings feels fast, tight, and responsive and I found it never got old. Combat is also fairly innovative, you can target specific parts of titans in order to deal with them. Killing a titan only requires that you cut out the nape of their neck, but cutting off specific limbs like arms and legs can further cripple a titan and provide resources that you can use to later upgrade your gear. Specific titans require different strategies depending on how they differ from normal titans. Titans come in all shapes and sizes, and abnormals are as terrifying as they are in the anime. As you zip around and kill titans, the durability of your blades and gas levels of your ODM gear slowly drops and requires to be replenished every so often. I never found these elements too intrusive or annoying until the last quarter of the game. There are also sections where you can play as Eren in his titan form and it’s as awesome as it sounds. Wings of Freedom has a few modes you can choose from the get go. Initially you start with Attack Mode, and Expedition Mode. Attack Mode goes through the entire storyline of Attack on Titan, and the Epilogue from a section of the manga. Attack Mode for the most part is very enjoyable, with a plethora of characters to play and different objectives to achieve. The biggest problem Wings of Freedom has comes from Attack Mode, in the form of its epilogue. In order to complete the epilogue missions, a number of boring, dull survey missions must be completed. It a massive drag to do and overall it didn’t feel worth it, it took a lot out of me to not turn my console off and play something else. Expedition Mode is fairly entertaining, you can use it to farm materials for use in Attack Mode, and playing with other people really makes you feel like you’re in the anime. The only problem I have with the crafting and upgrade system is that it feels like there’s no real progression or improvement. Earlier I mentioned there are a plethora of characters to play and each character plays differently. For example, Eren can transform into a titan and has a reasonable amount of strength to take titans down normally, while Armin is weak, but has the ability to command fellow allies to attack titans. Each character feels separate and unique, and it kept gameplay very fresh. Side missions pop up over the battlefield as you progress through a level, there simple and quick to do, but I was always compelled to do them when I had the opportunity.

All the voice acting in the game is in Japanese

Fully Functioning ODM Gear

Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom does a fantastic job of harnessing the power of the PS4 to provide a smooth, great looking experience. The trademark anime art style looks beautiful for the entire experience, character models look great, environments are colourful and titans are as terrifying as ever. I never encountered any bugs throughout my play through, but the frame rate was fairly inconsistent. I had random drops and when there’s too much on the screen it drops even further. It didn’t impede my progress but I found it a bit annoying.

The titans still look as terrifying as ever

Verdict: 7/10

Wings of Freedom is for the most part, the Attack on Titan game fans wanted and deserved. It treats the IP with respect and translates a lot of elements from the anime into a video game. It’s enjoyable, especially for fans, and while I can’t immediately recommend Wings of Freedom to a first timer, you might get a kick out of it. Other than a drawn out Epilogue, neutered crafting, and performance issues, Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom is the Attack on Titan game I always wanted.